


Two Pigeons for the Price of One

by brushstrokesApocalyptic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brushstrokesApocalyptic/pseuds/brushstrokesApocalyptic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The wormhole sends Pidge through time and space to a very familiar night, in a very familiar suburb, on a very familiar planet where they find a very familiar face. They see it in the mirror every morning, after all.</p>
<p>(Because one green lion clearly wasn't enough.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I just need some fresh air,” Katie says, and her mother waves goodbye from the sofa. She’s drowning herself in soap operas, like she always does when she’s upset.

Now it’s almost midnight and Katie’s sitting on a street corner, streetlight shining a spotlight on her as she flips through apps. There’s a Pidgeot nearby, apparently, but she can’t be bothered to go chase after it.

_They’re not dead,_ she thinks, clicking the screen off, and then on again. _They can’t be dead, they promised they’d come back, that they wouldn’t get kidnapped by aliens or crash or anything like that._

She clicks the screen off, and it reflects the flickering light above her. She turns it back on, enters the password, and stands up. _Where’s that asshole bird?_

Right on cue, the phone reminds Katie of how long she’d spent outside and how she didn’t charge it beforehand by going black. “Oh, come on!”

The streetlight flickers again, but it’s not alone. The entire street seems to quiver, lights flickering once, twice, going out. The air feels stifling, and something draws Katie’s eyes up, up, looking at the stars that are normally so hard to see with all the light pollution. With a blackout, she can clearly see everything in the night sky.

Katie is sure none of the constellations look quite so perfectly round.

Something streaks from the sky, blazing a trail in the sky that grows shaky, then smooths out, leaves a bright streak in the sky before it vanishes, but Katie had her eyes on it the entire time and she knows which way it went. Perhaps if she were in a more stable state of mind she might think twice about it, but something pulls at her, at the very core of her being.

Without a moment’s hesitation she stuffs her phone in her pocket and breaks into a sprint. _I need to know._

The tug leads her down the street, a turn, through a back alley, through someone’s backyard ( _hope they didn’t notice_ ) over the fence across a parking lot and into an open field. There’s a shallow crater in the middle of it, and Katie slows to a jog, then to a stop as something large, green, and metallic shimmers into vision.

Katie’s breaths come out heavy, eyes not moving from the lion’s muzzle as it opens, admitting a stumbling figure of white and green armor. The clouds part, shining down moonlight as the figure pulls off their helmet and looks up to see Katie.

For a moment, all is silent, twin expressions of shock on faces that would be identical were it not for the differences in hair length, and then the armored Katie speaks.

“What year is it?”

* * *

“So what you’re saying is, you’re me from a year and a half from now.”

Pidge shrugs and makes a wishy-washy hand gesture. “More or less? It’s hard to keep track of time in space, so I’m estimating.”

Katie takes a deep breath and adjusts her position in the grass. “Right, I was getting to that. So, you’re telling me that after the government announced the Kerberos mission’s failure, you got banned from the Galaxy Garrison for hacking into their computers to prove they’re lying. So then you disguised yourself as a boy to get in.”

Pidge nods. “Yes.”

Katie hums and starts ticking things off on her fingers. “And then the _pilot_ of the Kerberos mission returned, got rescued by you and your friends, and then somehow this lead to epic space adventures.” She looks up. “That all right?”

“Yep, you got everything.” Pidge leans back to stare at the sky. “How much of that do you believe?”

Katie hums thoughtfully and tugs at her hair. “Well, I _was_ thinking of breaking into the Garrison if I couldn’t get answers by just asking, so that I believe. And I think you crash-landing in a field in a giant green lion robot accounts for the last bit. So, I guess I believe all of it?”

Pidge whistles. “That’s a first. Must be because we’re literally the same person, we think the same way.”

“Heh, yeah.” Katie gives a slight grin, then lets it drop and looks away. “So, um, what are you planning to do now?”

Pidge makes a face. “Well, the lion’s damaged, so I’m gonna be stuck here maybe a day or so repairing it. Then once that’s done I’m gonna see if I can track down the ship my family’s on.”

Katie bites her lip, nodding tightly. The two of them fall silent, staring up at the stars that by now are half blotted out by the returning streetlights. After a minute, Katie tightens her fists around the grass, takes a breath, and blurts out, “Take me with you!”

Pidge looks over in surprise. “What?”

Katie steels herself and meets Pidge’s eyes. “Take me with you. They’re my family too, I don’t wanna just stay down here on Earth when I could be helping you find them.”

“But...”

Katie glares at Pidge and they hesitate. “But what?”

Pidge smiles nervously. “...Do you think you could bring peanut butter? Peanuts aren’t easy to find in space.”

Katie’s eyes light up. “Oh, good point, we’re gonna need to stock a lot of food. How long do I have to gather supplies?”

Pidge hums. “I’d say… I’ll be probably be done sometime tomorrow? Let’s say we meet up back here at noon.”

“Got it.” Katie leaps to her feet. “See you!”

* * *

Katie brushes her hair out of her eyes and leans her luggage against the side of the tree. She scans the sky, fidgeting anxiously with the strap of her backpack. _Did Pidge leave already? I’m not late, there’s still at least ten minutes before twelve there’s no way I’m late. Am I late?_

A flicker in the sky catches her attention, and the subtle distortion in the air grows larger and larger until the green lion lands neatly in front of her and deactivates the cloak. It crouches, opening its mouth to admit a beaming Pidge. “You’re early,” they comment.

“Yes, well, I was anxious,” Katie says, running their fingers through their hair. “I filled the larger bag full of food and the backpack is full of other essentials. And my laptop and some equipment, because, you know...”

“Katie, you are a genius, I didn’t even think of bringing a computer.” Pidge grins. “Now, are you ready to go to space? Said all your goodbyes?”

Katie nods, grin mirrored on her face. “Let’s launch this robot cat.”

* * *

 

“...And if you’ll look to your right, you’ll see Kerberos, where our brother and father got abducted by aliens like a week or two ago, I dunno,” Pidge says, gesturing grandiosely to the icy moon as they passed before tapering off at the less dramatic end words. Katie stares at it with an awed expression. “This concludes our impromptu tour of the solar system. Any questions?”

“How did we get out here so fast? I’m pretty sure it takes light like, five hours to get here from the sun, but it’s been...” Katie checks her phone. “...Half an hour. How’d you do it?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Pidge says, shrugging lightly. “I’ve managed to add all sorts of modifications, like the cloaking device, but I can’t figure out what lets it ignore the laws of physics so blatantly.”

“Really? What sort of modifications?” Katie asks, but before Pidge has a chance to respond she shoots up a hand to stop them. “Actually, hang on, gotta backpedal here, I should really get a baseline understanding of what’s going on before we go haring off after little things.”

Pidge’s mouth clicks shut. “Good point,” they say. They tap a button and release the controls, twisting in their chair to swing their legs over the armrest and fold their fingers under their chin. “What do you want to know?”

“Hm. Well, for one, are you aware that that position makes you look ridiculous?”

“No it doesn’t. I look cool.”

“Your head is lower than your knees. You look ridiculous.”

Pidge glares and lowers their chin behind their hands. “ _Serious questions_ , please.”

Katie rolls her eyes. “Fine, just gimme a moment to think.”

The cockpit falls into silence, Katie’s eyes roving across the controls, and she crosses her arms thoughtfully. Pidge dips their head even farther behind their hands, light glinting off their glasses, and then finally Katie clicks her fingers in realization. “Got it!”

Pidge perks up. “Oh?”

“Why are we so awesome?”

Pidge is silent for a moment, then slowly cracks a grin. “Katie,” they say, and Katie can barely hold back a grin of her own. “That’s the best goddamn question anybody ever asked.”

The cockpit is silent for a moment, and then in unison the two speak a single word.

“Neeerd.”

 

* * *

 

A photograph is creased, fingers holding it too tight, teardrops staining the edges. Three faces look out, smiles gleaming in the sunlight, and she can hardly stand to look at it.

_“Late last afternoon, thirteen-year-old Katherine Holt was reported missing by her mother. Viewers may recognize this as the younger sister and daughter of two of the members of the failed Kerberos mission, which authorities theorize is related to the Ohio teen’s disappearance.”_

A dog whines. Clumsy hands pet it, aiming for the head but half of them land on the neck instead. The dog doesn’t mind.

_“Mary Holt returned home after work to find an empty house, and while at first she didn’t think anything of it, she became worried when her daughter didn’t respond to her phone... ”_

They forgot something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> homestuck? in MY voltron?
> 
> (i'm so sorry i couldn't resist)


	2. Chapter 2

Katie yawns and blinks at the screen in front of her. She’s onto her third pot of coffee, a half drained mug sitting by her side, and her hands are shaking. The numbers blur together, turning from sensible code into something unreadable, and Katie frowns.

“...Something just occured to me,” she mutters, and an equally exhausted Pidge just hums in response from their place at the controls. “If the rest of the team only found out about Shiro crashing because you were there, then doesn’t neither of us being there to draw them to the roof mean Team Voltron might never be formed?”

Slowly, Pidge turns to give Katie a wide-eyed look. “...My _god,_ you’re right. We may have just accidentally spelled the doom of the universe! How long have we been in space?!”

Katie is taken aback by the urgency in Pidge’s voice. She gives a puzzled frown and glances away. “Uh, almost a year by now? I dunno, I’d have to check...”

“No, no, we might be too late already, we have to go back.” Pidge starts urgently flipping switches, pressing buttons, and after a moment Katie gets up to stumble over.

“Pidge, what are you talking about? Go back where?”

“Back to Earth! We have to make sure Lance finds his lion, or the universe could be destroyed!”

Katie places a hand on Pidge’s shoulder, jolting them out of their rant. “Pidge. Lance and Hunk followed you up to the roof because they wanted to know what you were up to, right?”

“...Yeah? What does that...”

“So,” Katie continues, “Because neither of us are there to be part of their team, even if we high-tailed it back to Earth the chances that we could reasonably make things happen exactly the same as they did last time are astronomical. _The universe may well be already doomed.”_

“Ah.” Pidge’s shoulders slump, and they look down at their knees. Then they look back up at the screen. “Well, if they’re astronomical, we’re already in the stars. Wanna try anyway?”

Katie sighs. “What the hell, we don’t have any leads. Let’s go home.”

 

* * *

 

“Mason’s got a stick up his ass the size of Russia, Hunk. There’s no way he’d do anything but report us to the instructors if we invited him along.”

“You know, I’m getting the feeling this isn’t really a bonding exercise to you,” Hunk mutters, “This is just an excuse to get out and get shot down by girls.”

_“Excuse_ me?” Lance shoots a glare up at Hunk. “What makes you think I’m gonna get rejected?”

“Um, maybe the fact that every single time you flirt with a girl at the Garrison the encounter ends with them snubbing you at best?”

“Psh, Garrison girls have no taste. Out here in the city, cute girls are _easy pickings._ Here, lemme demonstrate.” Lance saunters away, making his way across the open-air cafe towards a brunette at her laptop. Hunk groans, but follows a few feet behind.

“Hey there,” Lance begins, leaning casually against the table. The girl blinks, looks up, and takes her headphones off. “The name’s Lance, what’s a cute girl like you doing out here on your own?”

A spark of surprise lights in the girl’s eyes at his name, but after a moment she swallows and smiles gently. “Sorry, if you’re trying to flirt with me I think I’m a little young for you.”

Lance raises his eyebrows at the unexpected response. “Really? How old are you?”

“Fourteen.” Her eyes drop back to the computer screen, and Lance catches a glimpse of her rapidly typing three characters into some kind of messaging program before she exits out of it.

He ignores it, figuring he shouldn’t pry. “Ah, sorry,” he says, “Thought you looked a little older from a distance. No hard feelings?”

“It’s fine,” the girl says lightly, already putting her headphones back on, and Lance frowns.

_I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before,_ he thinks, slipping into the seat across from the girl, but before he can dwell very hard on it Hunk is there leaning over the table to look at the equipment around the girl’s laptop.

After a moment, the girl gives Hunk an irritated look. “You’re blocking the light.”

“Sorry.” Hunk sits down next to Lance, and after a moment leans forward to poke at it.

The girl glares. “Stop. You’ll break it.”

“I’m just curious, is all! I’ve never seen anything like this, what does it even do?”

“You’ve never seen anything like it because there’s nothing else like it,” a new voice intrudes, revealing itself as another brunette with shorter hair and glasses. “Here’s your coffee, Katie,” they say, sliding one cup across the table next to the girl and then sitting down by her side with their own.

Hunk gives the newcomer a curious look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we built it ourselves,” they say, taking a long drink of their coffee and grinning proudly. “It was mostly her, really, but I helped a bunch.”

Lance whistles appreciatively. “You built all this? What does it do?”

“It scans for radio waves in space. It’s got a maximum radius of eight billion kilometres.” They look smug, and the corner of the girl’s mouth twitches slightly.

“Wow, that’s...” Lance frowns. “...How big is that?”

Hunk blanches. “That’s bigger than the entire solar system! How the hell did you manage that?”

The girl casually takes off her headphones and hands them to her companion. “Years of practice taking apart and putting together electronics. And a week of nothing but coffee.”

“Also, determination.” They hang the headphones around their neck. “By the way, I’m Pidge, and this is my sister Katie. Nice to meet you.”

Pidge offers a handshake and Lance automatically takes it. “Lance, and the big guy’s Hunk. What are you listening in on out in space anyway?”

“Aliens,” Katie says, and Pidge shoots her a dry look. “What?”

“You’re just gonna tell them?”

“Yeah? It’s not like there’s anything else to listen to out there. Speaking of which,” Katie makes a grab at the headphones, and Pidge leans away. “I gave you those so you could take a turn transcribing the radio chatter!”

“Oh, like we’ll hear anything new! Hell, I could probably just predict exactly what they’re saying right now—” Pidge starts making static noises with their mouth. “Kchshhhhhck Voltron kchshhhhk Voltron kchsk Voltron kchshsk kchsshk Voltron. It’s boring!”

“Okay, I’m lost here,” Hunk says. “There are aliens?”

“Oh yeah, tons of them,” Pidge says, “I actually have a theory about the Kerberos mission—”

Lance snaps his fingers. “That’s where I’ve seen you before!”

Pidge and Katie blink in unision. “Sorry, what?”

“Okay, that was creepy,” Lance begins, “But anyway, you’re Katie Holt, aren’t you? The little sister of part of the crew of the Kerberos mission who went missing last year.”

Hunk’s eyes widen. “What, seriously? I didn’t know there was another kid.”

Katie cringes. “Maybe not so loud?” She says in a hushed tone, glancing nervously at the few other people in the cafe. “I’d kinda rather stay missing. I have things to do.”

“Like listening in on this alleged alien radio chatter. Are you sure you didn’t just go off your rocker after running away?”

“Hey man, we have proof." Pidge raises an arm in front of Katie defensively.

“What, like recordings of weird static? That’s got about as much veracity as trying to prove ghosts are real by a recording where you can kinda hear someone say something spooky.”

“It’s perfectly clear!”

“Oh yeah? Who was it that _just_ said all you can hear is static and what was that word, ‘Voltron?'”

“That was a joke!”

“Uh, guys?” Hunk cuts in. “Something’s happening!”

Lance and Pidge look up to see him pointing up into the sky. They follow his gaze, and the blaze of light streaking across the stars stops all arguing in its tracks.

For a moment all is silent, and then Pidge pulls the lid off their coffee and chugs the whole cup in one go. They wince at the heat, but shake it off to shout, “Alright, it’s happening! Katie, pack that up and investigate! I’ll grab the lion!”

“Right!” Katie shuts the laptop and starts shoving the equipment into her backpack. Pidge begins to run off, but when they reach the exit Katie stops them with a shout. “Wait! I need those headphones!”

Pidge growls and tears the headphones off, rears back, and pitches them right at Katie’s face. They’re already running before the headphones hit, but the distant “Ow.” is all they need to know they hit their mark.

“Wow, that’s some impressive aim,” Lance comments as Katie stuffs the headphones in the backpack and zips it back up. “But wait, what’s going on? Where are you going?”

Katie flashes a grin. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re gonna check out that ship!”

“Who’s we?” Hunk asks, jogging after Katie as she grabs her coffee and runs to the exit. “Pidge is going the complete opposite direction!”

Katie pauses to raise an eyebrow at him. “Aren’t you coming?”

Lance appears next to her with a grin. “Heck yeah we are! Whatever that thing is, we gotta go see it.”

Katie beams. “Glad to have you onboard. Let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

“So, wait, what’s Pidge doing right now?” Hunk asks, crouched by Katie's side and looking out over the Garrison vehicles clustered around an alien ship.

“They’re fetching something,” Katie says absently, tapping away at her laptop.

“And what might that something be?” Lance asks. “And why didn’t you have it on you already?”

“It’s a bit too...” Katie glances away, face contorting oddly as she searches for the word. “ _...unwieldy…_ to take around in public. It attracts attention we don’t want.”

“Hey, speaking of you two,” Hunk begins, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the Holts having more than two kids—”

“Oh look!” Katie says loudly, “I’ve managed to hack into the security camera inside, check it out, it’s the pilot of the Kerberos mission! I wonder why he’s there!”

“Don’t change the— Oh wow, you’re right,” Hunk leans in to get a better look, Lance mirroring the action, and Katie sits back with a grumble.

With her eyes not glued to the screen, Katie is able to notice a distortion in the sky crossing overhead. Casually she gives the sky a thumbs-up, and the distortion circles once before taking off in a different direction.

“But how are we gonna get in there to save him?” Lance is asking when Katie tunes back in.

“I hate to be the voice of reason, but why are we even here? Why did we even decide to talk to those two weirdos?”

“I’m right here,” Katie says, “And I seem to remember someone insisting on poking my equipment within the first twenty seconds of seeing it.”

“Oh, right. But why did we decide to follow you?”

“Because aliens. You know it’s cool.”

“It just seems like such a bad idea. What if we get caught and they kick us out?”

Katie huffs in amusement. “Yeah, I’d hate to get kicked out of the Garrison. How would I ever survive.”

Hunk gives her a dry look. “That wasn’t directed at you.”

“Getting back to the point, how are we gonna get in there?” Lance asks.

His sentence is punctuated by a series of distant explosions, and Katie beams. “Maybe we’ll just take advantage of the distraction?”

 

* * *

 

“Katie, I’m starting to think you’re psychic or something,” Lance yells over the sound of the hoverbike.

“What makes you say that?” Katie yells back.

“I mean, back at the cafe when the ship fell didn’t one of you say something like ‘It’s happening'? And you weren’t fazed at all when the explosions went off, or when you found Shiro. It’s like you knew exactly what was going to happen!”

“Yeah, but that first one was Pidge,” Katie shoots back, “So if anything _they’re_ psychic. Which they aren’t!”

“Now, see, that sounds exactly like what someone covering for their psychic friend would say.”

“Would you two quiet down back there?” Keith shouts, grip tightening around the handles as he banks the bike around next to the cabin. “We’re here.”

“Took you long enough!” Pidge yells from the roof. “I’ve been waiting here for at like half an hour!”

Keith yelps. “How did you get up there?!”

Pidge crosses their arms, holding a white and green device in one hand as they give Keith a dry look. “Very carefully. You got Shiro?”

“Right here!” Katie chirps, raising one of Shiro’s arms in a limp wave.

“Who are you, anyway?” Keith asks.

“I’m Pidge, Katie’s—” Pidge begins, subtly shifting their weight to their other foot, and then they cut themself off with a yelp as they lose their footing and crash to the ground.

Katie laughs. “Nice footwork, genius.”

“Shut up. That was deliberate.”

“Sure, and I’ve been to the Andromeda Galaxy.”

The object previously in Pidge’s hand bounces away as they speak, landing at Hunk’s feet, and he leans down to pick it up. “What’s this?”

Pidge’s eyes widen when they see him. “Give that back!” they say, pulling themself back up.

Hunk raises an eyebrow. “What, this thing? What’s it even for?”

Gritting her teeth, Katie drops Shiro, darts over, and snatches the object from Hunk’s hand before twisting around to throw it at Pidge. “Hot potato!”

Pidge leaps up to grab the object, twists on their toes, throws it over the shack. The air distorts, barely visible against the night sky, and the object vanishes into thin air. They dust off their hands. “Alright then, where were we?”

The rest of the gang gapes. “What just happened?” Lance asks weakly.

“We were getting rid of something which you guys really shouldn’t be messing with.”

“But you just — It just vanished into thin air! How did you do that?!”

“Well, all they really had to do was throw it,” Katie explains, “The—”

Pidge hastily claps a hand over Katie’s mouth. “Wait, wait, we should let them figure it out themselves. It’s not that important.”

“Oh, yes, good point.”

“What, you’re not even gonna try to hide that you’re messing with us?”

Pidge hums, considering the fuming Lance before them, and shrugs. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Lance lunges and Pidge dances back, ducking behind Katie with a laugh. They’re not quite the same, but these are their friends, and it’s been so long since they’ve had anyone to talk to.

_Katie doesn’t count,_ Pidge thinks to themself. _We’re technically the same person, after all._

 

* * *

 

A hard look in her eyes, shoulders squared, determination set in her brow.

_“We can’t give you any details...”_

A toolbox full of parts, duffel bag full of food both human and canine. A leash in her hand.

_“...someone matching your daughter’s description...”_

She’s not coming back anytime soon.

_“We have all the officers we can spare on the case, but after all this time with no leads, I doubt it’s really her. You should just...”_

They had to get it from somewhere.


	3. Chapter 3

The laptop lights Katie’s face from below, the bags under her eyes stark against her face. The sand crunches behind her, and she looks up.

“Why’re you still out here?” Lance asks, crouching down next to her.

Katie blinks slowly, and after a moment looks back down at the laptop. “...Couldn’t sleep. Too much of the wrong noises.”

Lance makes an inquisitive noise, and after Katie doesn’t respond to that he speaks. “Yeah? What do you mean?”

Katie hunkers down, pulling her shirt tight around her shoulders. “Too many people snoring, not enough low mechanical buzzing. It’s weird.”

“Man, where’ve you been that’s like that?” Lance asks. Katie turns her head away, and he frowns. “I’m serious, you going missing alongside the Kerberos mission was all over the news for like a month, and then it just tapered off. Where _were_ you?”

Katie doesn’t speak immediately, eyes trailing up to the stars. She takes a deep breath, lets it out as a cloud in the cold night air. “Well, I don’t think the Garrison’s gotten faster than light travel just yet. It’s no wonder they couldn’t find me.”

Lance huffs. “I was _trying_ to have a moment here, but sure, mess with me some more.”

“Oh no, I’m being serious. There’s so much out there, it’s hard to find any one thing in particular. We were out there way longer than we initially planned.”

“What, seriously?” Lance asks, and Katie meets his eyes with a tired look. “You’ve actually been to space? What’s it like?”

Katie hums, pulling her legs up to her chest and taking a deep breath. “Empty, mostly. It takes a long time to get anywhere, even with FTL. The nebulas look nice though.”

Lance is silent. Katie wraps her arms around herself, and after a moment just tucks them between her legs for warmth.

“...What’s up with Pidge?” Lance finally asks. “They an alien or something?”

Katie huffs a laugh. “Yeah, if they’re an alien so am I. We’re… not really siblings. I think Pidge would rather I let you figure it out yourselves.”

Lance hums thoughtfully. “...Cousins, then?” He guesses, and Katie gives him a dry look. “Clones? Parent and child?”

Katie laughs a little harder at the last one. “Yeah, right, they’d have to have had me when they were a baby.”

Lance pulls a face. “Okay, so maybe not that one. How close did I get though?”

“I think Pidge would consider that telling.” Katie rubs at her eyes. “...They’d probably throw something at me too, it’s their turn to do it.”

“What, is that like a thing you two do? Throwing pieces of technology at each other?”

“Well, it’s not always our tech, but...” Katie sighs. “Yeah, pretty much. Space can get very boring.”

“Hm. You act like siblings,” Lance says, eyes trailing away. “Or like, very close friends. How long have you known them?”

“Only a year. We think the same way though. Helps us keep in sync.”

Lance hums thoughtfully, and they fall into a comfortable silence. Katie shivers slightly, curling in on herself some more, and Lance frowns.

A warm weight rests over Katie’s back. She looks up to see Lance standing, jacket gone from his shoulders. “I’m gonna want that back in the morning,” he says, turning away.

Katie stares after him for a moment, then huffs and stands up. She deftly pulls the jacket off, balls it up, ties the sleeves together, and rears up to land a hit right on the back of Lance’s head.

“It’s not that cold!” Katie yells, amusement spilling into her voice as Lance squawks in surprise. When he turns, she’s already back at her laptop, and he smiles before shutting the shack’s door behind him.

 

* * *

 

Pidge is talking before they’ve even looked at Katie, one strap of their backpack slung over their shoulder as they step from the lion’s maw. “Hey, Katie, do you think...” they begin, trailing off when they notice the way Katie’s propping her head up with her arm.

They frown. “Katie?” Pidge tries again, and they sigh when Katie doesn’t so much as twitch. “We really need to kick that habit...”

Kneeling by her side, Pidge brushes Katie’s hair aside to confirm that she’s fast asleep, eyes shut lightly and head tilted at an odd angle with her hand holding up her cheek. Practiced movements have them unzipping the backpack, pulling out a thin blanket, and tucking it around Katie’s shoulders.

They turn their attention to the laptop, and find the beginnings of a program onscreen, messy code slapped together in what might be the beginnings of a search algorithm. It’s unsaved, and Pidge takes a moment to deal with that, leaving a quick message in the file name, before they shut the laptop.

Pidge stands, surveying their work. Katie wrapped in a blanket, laptop closed against the elements. They nod, and turn on their heel to return to their lion.

Katie barely stirs when the lion takes off. She shifts, pulling the blanket tighter around her and slumping forwards, but she’s back to the state of total unresponsiveness within seconds.

 

* * *

 

Katie’s still outside come morning, a small puddle of drool gathering on top of the laptop. The crunching of sand jolts her awake, and hazily she turns to see who it is.

Shiro stands there, looking vaguely lost. Katie relaxes, blinking the sleep away and giving him a faint smile. “You’re awake.”

Shiro nods, walking over to her side and sitting down. He frowns. “Have we met somewhere before?”

Katie shakes her head and looks down at the computer. “I don’t think so, no. I’m told I look a lot like my brother, though.”

Shiro hums to himself, then makes a quiet noise of recollection. “Oh, you’re Katie, right? Commander Holt told me a lot about you.”

“What did he say?” Katie asks as she opens it back up.

“He said...” Shiro goes silent, and after a moment Katie looks up to see him staring away into the sky with a pensive look. “He said you’re a fiery young woman with a fixation on anything electronic, especially if you don’t know how it works. And Matt said you’re a good listener.”

Katie snorts. “Yeah, I think he might have to raise his standards a little. I always spend the entire time mocking him.”

“Why were you mocking him?”

“Oh, y’know, just typical sibling banter,” Katie says, averting her eyes with an amused grin. “I’m not sure he’d appreciate me telling you all the details of the subject matter, but he had a crush on someone and once ranted about their butt to me for an hour straight.”

Shiro laughs, and then looks back at the sound of footsteps. Katie glances up as well, sees Keith, and after a moment she turns back to her laptop.

Her work was saved, and Katie’s sure she didn’t save it herself. _c u on arus,_ the filename reads.

 _Damnit, Pidge,_ Katie thinks, scowling at her screen. _Couldn’t you have told me before haring off after whatever this is?_

“Katie? You coming?” Keith asks, and Katie snaps the laptop shut.

“Right!” She says, picking up the computer and hugging it against her chest.

 

* * *

 

Keith has one of those huge boards with the push-pins and the string and the photographs, and Katie is pretty sure she’s in love.

(With the board, that is. Keith she’s still not so sure about, but he set off a bunch of explosives with little to no proper demolitions training last night, so she’s warming up.)

She’s always wanted a chance to make one of those boards, but before Pidge she never had an excuse and afterwards there weren’t any such boards in the green lion. It’s a shame, really, it may have actually came in real handy for keeping them on track and keeping relevant clues easily visible.

Keith says something about lion carvings, and Katie snaps back to attention. “What’s this about a lion?”

“The caves are covered in lion carvings,” Lance supplies. “What, did you get distracted by Keith’s amazing bulletin board?”

Katie flushes and looks away. “ _No,”_ she insists, holding a pout for several seconds before dropping it under the force of Lance’s scepticism. “Well, okay, maybe, but can you blame me? They’re cool!”

“Yeah, you’re a real kid.”

“I’m not a kid!”

“Alright, let’s get away from each other’s throats,” Shiro says, stepping between them. “Changing the subject, Keith, I really appreciate you all coming to save me. The same goes to all of you, though I don’t...”

Shiro trails off, and after a moment Katie speaks up. “Well, you already know who I am,” She says, and when Shiro nods she continues, “And these are Hunk,” She motions at Hunk, who nods tentatively, “And Lance.”

Shiro offers Lance a handshake, and he accepts. Then Shiro steps back, and Katie resumes speaking. “So, I’m pretty sure I’ve got the gist of it already, but what can you tell me about what happened on the Kerberos mission?”

An uncertain expression appears on Shiro’s face, but after a moment he replies, “I don’t remember it very well, but I remember an alien warship showed up and attacked us while we were collecting samples. Then it’s just a blur.”

Katie has a pen and paper in her hands already, and she’s scribbling frantically in it. “Okay, so nothing I didn’t already know,” she says in a tone much too calm for the ferocity with which she’s writing. “Thanks anyway.”

Hunk peeks over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow at the numerous scribbles around her transcription of what Shiro said. “Galra? What does that mean?”

Katie yelps and snaps the book shut. “Nothing! It means nothing!”

Lance perks up. “Oh, right! Katie, you said you’ve gone around in space, right?”

Katie shuts her eyes and lets out a soft groan, resting her hand on the bridge of her nose. “...I knew I shouldn’t have told you about that...”

“Wait, seriously?” Hunk gives Katie an awed look. “What’s it like out there? Is Pidge an alien?”

“Mostly empty, and no.” Katie glares ineffectually at Hunk. “Believe it or not, that’s pretty much exactly what Lance asked me when I told him.”

“Is that why you went missing?” Keith asks.

Shiro frowns. “What’s this about Katie going missing?”

“Look, everyone just calm down and shut up,” Katie cuts in, stuffing her notebook in her backpack. “Lance, why’d you feel the need to bring that up?”

“Oh, right,” Lance straightens up. “Well, I was just thinking, if all this is related to whatever alien stuff happened with the Kerberos mission, and you’ve been traveling around the galaxy for the last year or so, couldn’t you know something about those aliens that abducted Shiro?”

Hunk perks up. “Oh, that reminds me! Didn’t Pidge say something about a lion back at the cafe?”

“What?” Katie freezes up, then swings her hands behind her back and looks away. “No, no they didn’t. Everyone knows lions aren’t real. What’s a lion? I don’t believe in lions.”

“Okay, that’s definitely suspicious.” Lance crosses his arms at Katie. “What do you know?”

Katie sweats nervously under his gaze, then sighs and lets her shoulders sag. “Fine. Let’s just go check out those lion carvings, I’ll explain along the way.”

 

* * *

 

“...and their ship broke down _again_ after that, but it was all great because they had this broken down robot in the back. So cute. Had these little pointy ears that flicked up and down, it was amazing!”

“Uh huh.” Hunk slides down the dirt behind Katie with less enthusiasm, catching her headphones as they slip out of her backpack. “Why do you keep calling Pidge’s ship a lion? Is it like, shaped like a lion or something?”

Katie pauses, then looks back at Hunk with a strained smile. “Oh, um, well, it’s got this face on it which kinda looks like a lion, and I jokingly called it one, and the name just stuck. It’s… it’s just a normal ship.”

“For a given definition of normal, I’ll bet,” Hunk mutters, handing the headphones back. Katie accepts them, quickly stuffing them back in their place and zipping the backpack back up.

“Okay, back up!” Lance calls from the entrance of the cave, “Why were those two trying to steal your ship anyway? Cash? General douchebaggery?”

“I dunno actually,” Katie calls back, hand cupped around her mouth to help her voice carry. “I guess they wanted to use it themselves? It was in way better condition than theirs.”

Lance slides down. “Yeah, I’ll bet. How many times did you say they broke down?”

“Woah, check these out,” Hunk says, cutting Katie off before she can reply and drawing her attention to the lion carvings on the walls. The rest of the team joins them, Shiro eyeing the carvings speculatively while Keith hardly gives them a glance.

“These are the carvings,” Keith says, gaze landing on Katie as she peers curiously at the carvings with her notebook out. “They’re all over the place around here. You happy now?”

Lance hums, reaching up to rub dust away from the wall. The carvings light up blue. “Uh, do they normally do that?”

Keith blanches. “ _No,_ they don’t! What did you do?!”

“I just touched it!”

“Guys, why are you yelling!” Katie adds above Lance and Keith’s voices. “Nothing’s actually happening, they just lit up!”

Everyone pauses, and Hunk raises his head from under his arms. “Huh,” he says, “I was kinda expecting it to start rumbling or something.”

“Yeah, no, I think it’s just lighting the way.” Katie jerks a thumb over her shoulder, pointing out the rest of the tunnel behind her. “Wanna check it out?”

For a moment, everything is silent, and then Shiro wanders over. “May as well see where it goes.”

Katie beams and trots at Shiro’s heel, and with a shrug the rest of the team follows.

 

* * *

 

“Aren’t we supposed to be in a desert? Don’t deserts generally lack somewhat in the water department?”

A drop of water hits Katie right on the head, and she glares at the ceiling.

“Well, we’re pretty deep underground by now,” Lance points out, running his fingertips along the damp carvings. “Doesn’t seem unlikely there could be a spring all the way down here.”

“Yeah, but you’d think some of it would leak up to the surface.”

“I’ve never noticed any-- Woah!” Keith loses his footing in the mud, lands on his ass, and begins to slide in the shallow stream at their feet.

“Woah! Hang on, lemme just--” Hunk lunges forward in an attempt to catch Keith, but all he manages to do is lose balance himself and start sliding as well.

Katie hums thoughtfully. “Do you think we should help them?”

Lance huffs. “Yeah, right, I don’t wanna fall too. Shiro?”

Both Katie and Lance turn to stare at Shiro, who looks down the tunnel where two of their number had just slid out of sight. He shrugs. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey Katie, I don’t suppose Pidge’s ‘lion' is anything like this thing?”

Katie looks everywhere but Lance’s face. “What? No, no, it’s totally different. Different color. Theirs is way smaller.”

Lance narrows his eyes at Katie. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m not lying! It’s absolutely all of those things!”

“No fighting, cadets,” Shiro says, tone long-suffering. “Lance, where are we going?”

“Uh...” Lance makes a face. “The lion says it’s going after a ship out at the edge of the solar system. Not sure how we’ll get out there with any kind of speed...”

Katie hums absently, a worried crease appearing between her brows as a Galra warship looms from behind Pluto. _Here’s hoping Pidge lose track of time._

The wormhole explodes into existence before them, and Katie gives it a thoughtful look. “I’ve seen that somewhere before...” she mutters, resting a hand on her chin.

“Katie? Do you know something about that thing?” Shiro asks.

She frowns, looking back through memories for a bit before blinking and glancing at Shiro. “I’m pretty sure it’s a wormhole.” She thinks a moment longer, then nods to herself. _Pidge said a wormhole is supposed to show up around now._

“Where does it go?” Keith asks.

“Well, how should I know?” Katie asks, crossing her arms indignantly. _Pidge told me, of course,_ she thinks. _But these guys don’t have to know that._

“Do you think we should go through it?” Hunk asks. “I, for one, am against it, as we have no idea where it goes or whether we can come back through it.”

“It’ll be fine,” Katie says, eyes darting across the surface of the hole, looking for a sign of the green lion. A flare of light tells her something went through, and she relaxes.  _There they are._

“How do you know?”

“Look, the lion seems to agree with Katie,” Lance says. “But I dunno, Shiro, what do you think?”

Shiro exhales slowly, assessing the situation. “Well, I suppose if the two people who already know something of what’s going on are in agreement, we may as well go with it. Does everyone agree?”

Keith thinks for a moment, then shrugs. “Why not?”

Hunk sighs. “Guess I’m outvoted. And there is a large, probably aggressive alien space ship back there, so...”

Lance nods, and takes a deep breath before pushing the controls forward. “Guess it’s decided,” he mutters, then in a louder voice adds “Hold on tight!”

 

* * *

 

The acrid stench of vomit wafts through the cockpit, courtesy of Hunk, and though the chorus of screams has died down the gang of misfits has yet to pick themselves off the floor.

“Too much turbulence,” Keith mumbles, forehead rested on the ground just behind Lance’s seat.

“I hate to agree with Keith, but ow...” Lance groans. “...I think I have a concussion...”

“Wimps,” Katie says, the only one still upright, as she subtly leans against the seat. “Honestly, it’s like you’ve never flown in a large robotic lion before.”

“Well, no, we haven’t,” Shiro says, his tone dry. He pulls himself up by Lance’s armrest to give her a look matching his tone. “Most of us are constrained to less futuristic modes of transportation, Katie.”

Katie sniffs dismissively. “Wimps,” she repeats.

 

* * *

 

They land on the planet the wormhole brought them to, and with mild trepidation exit the lion’s mouth. The lion stands back up once they’ve all left, but then stills as if it’s noticed something.

Distantly, Keith notices something green and brown and distinctly out of place on the wall. After a moment the figure shifts, and a voice carries down with the breeze.

“Hey guys! Took you long enough!”

Shiro squints in the sunlight, shielding his eyes as he struggles to make out the figure a the side of the castle. “Matt?” He calls out, voice tinged with confusion.

“Nope, I’m Pidge!” the figure calls back, “Though I’m told I look a lot like my brother!”

“How did you get here before us?” Keith asks.

“Oh, you guys were taking so long to go through the wormhole,” Pidge calls, slowly making their way back down, “So I just figured I’d go on ahead!”

“I don’t think I saw any ship go in ahead of us,” Hunk comments. “Did you guys?”

“Cloaking device,” Katie says. “And I did see something go through earlier, but I was specifically looking for it, does that count?”

Hunk shrugs. “I guess so? How could you tell it went through if it was cloaked though?”

“Oh, the wormhole does this bright flare thing whenever something goes through,” Katie says, motioning with her hands for emphasis. “It’s very obvious when you know what to look for.”

Pidge finally reaches the ground, retracting the glowing green line that held them to the wall. They jog over, the object from last night held loosely in one hand.

Hunk gives it an interested look. “So, it’s a grappling hook?”

“It’s none of your business is what it is.” Pidge sticks the grappling hook thing behind their back. “Stop looking at it.”

“Are you an alien?” Lance blurts out.

Pidge blinks, then gives Katie a dark look. “Katie, how much did you tell them?”

Katie raises her hands defensively. “Hey, I didn’t tell them who you are!”

Pidge keeps up the glare for another moment before letting up. “Well, I guess it’s fine, as long as you’re only giving them hints,” They say, flippantly spinning their grappling hook around their finger. “We gonna check out the castle now or what?”

On this cue, the blue lion stands and roars. Everyone else ducks and covers their ears at the sound, but Pidge doesn’t even turn around as the massive doors open behind them.

“Never gonna get used to that,” Katie mutters, removing her hands from the sides of her head.

Pidge turns around, hands rested on their hips, and grins. “Well now,” they breathe. “This is nostalgic.”

 

* * *

 

They got many things from her.

_“This facility is off limits to--”_

A love of strange machinery,

_“That is classified information--”_

The drive to find their family,

_“What are you doing?!”_

And the insatiable urge to fight everything.

(Also, the technical know-how to repair an alien space ship. They must have learnt it somewhere, after all.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who held off on posting a 99% complete chapter for several days bc anxiety is hell and she can't initiate a conversation with her beta reader to save her life :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so it's been a year since i last updated this thing! hahahhahaaahhhhhhhhhh i'm....... very sorry i have no excuses. hopefully that won't happen again for the next chapter?? but also. don't expect a super consistent update schedule either. _i'm doing my best here y'all i just got other things i gotta work on tooooo.............._

“There seems to be something wrong with the castle’s scanners. It’s... giving impossible readings for the location of the green lion.”

Simultaneously, Pidge and Katie perk up. “Oh?”

Allura pauses. “...Could you not do that? It is rather creepy.”

“Sorry,” Katie says, as Pidge turns their head away with a sheepish look. “But anyway, what do you mean, impossible readings?”

“Well, you see...” Allura waves the star past them, coming to a stop at a forested planet. “As you can see, the castle says the green lion is on this planet.”

Everyone nods, and Allura sends the stars back to where they were before. “However, it also says the green lion is in more or less the same place as the blue and black lions. That is, on the same planet.”

Pidge fidgets nervously, beginning to open their mouth before Katie beats them to the punch. “It’s probably just a little confused because of the lions that’re already there, or something. How about we go looking for it in the other place?”

“I… suppose that’s plausible.” Allura pauses to think, then nods. “Very well then, Pidge, you will pilot the—”

“No, no, not happening. I’ve already got my own ship.” Pidge backs away, sidestepping behind Shiro before sticking their head back out. “I volunteer Katie, she’s basically me but younger and more feminine.”

Katie gives Pidge a dry look.  _ Geez, and who is it that keeps getting on my case about the secret? _ she thinks. Outwardly, however, she just nods. “I’m fine with it. How about you, Princess?”

Allura sighs. “Well, there isn’t much choice if Pidge simply refuses to pilot it. Will you at least accompany Katie?”

Pidge hums. “I want Shiro to come too. It’s not like he has anything better to do.”

“Very well,” Allura says, nodding contentedly. “Shiro, Pidge, and Katie will go to retrieve the green lion, while Hunk and Lance find the yellow lion. Keith, are you alright waiting here while we search for the red lion?”

Keith nods. “That’s fine.”

“Alright. Pidge, I believe you said you had your own ship? Would you be willing to take that to the green lion?”

Pidge blinks. “Oh! U-um no, sorry. It got a little damaged on the way down here and I’ll need to, uh, give it some maintenance before it’ll be able to fly properly. Wh-why don’t we take one of the pods instead?”

 

* * *

Shiro crosses his arms, watching Pidge from across the entrance to the shrine. Pidge stares resolutely at the tangle of thick woody vines at the center, eyes tracking the speck that is Katie as she climbs.

“...Matt?” Shiro finally asks.

Pidge blinks, looking up at him in confusion. “Sorry, what?”

“You look like Matt,” Shiro clarifies. Pidge stares at him for a long moment, before it clicks in their head.

“Oh. Oh, r-right, I do, don’t I? I guess that wouldn’t be such a big leap to make considering the f—” They cut themself off with a cough, taking a quick breath before folding their arms behind their back and looking resolutely away. “Anyway I’m not Matt. The fact that I look like Matt is a coincidence. Completely.”

Shiro frowns, genuine confusion dancing over his features. “Then what? I know I’ve never heard of anyone named Pidge from either Matt or Commander Holt… or, have I?”

“Don’t ask me, I wasn’t there,” Pidge says. “Anyway, I wouldn’t really have expected them to talk about me much. Katie’s… Katie’s really the star here, you know? I’m just kinda… an extension of her.”

Shiro’s frown deepens. “Hey, don’t talk about yourself like that. You’re your own person, not just another part of your sister.”

Pidge blinks, then gives him a wide-eyed smile. “Oh, sorry, Katie’s not my sister. Like I said, I’m basically another her.”

“You’re… what?” Shiro’s concern has completely fallen apart in favour of bafflement, leaving him staring at Pidge as they look back to Katie with a jaunty hum. “What does that mean?”

“I dunno, what does it mean?” Pidge asks back. “Feel free to guess, but I’m not gonna tell you if you’re right.”

Shiro stares at them a moment longer, then sighs and picks up the pieces of his composure. “Well, whatever you are, there’s no reason for you to equate yourself to just another part of someone else.”

“And what if I  _ literally am _ her?” Pidge asks, crossing their arms over their chest. “Can’t really change that.”

“...But you’re not, really,” Shiro says, looking up in search of Katie— she’s nearly at the top by now. Pidge gives him a sceptical look, and he elaborates. “I mean, you’ve got a different name, different pronouns, different hairstyles, you wear glasses… the list goes on. Can you really say that you’re the same person?”

Pidge stares at him for a long moment, then huffs and looks back up at the vine mound. “You never change, do you,” they mutter, and Shiro gives them a confused look.

“What was that?” he asks, and Pidge jumps.

“Oh, uh, did I say— I-I mean I didn’t say any—”

Just in time, the mound of vines explodes in a shower of green light. The green lion soars through the air, doing a smooth flip in midair before dropping back to the ground

“What’s up, suckers!” Katie’s voice booms from the lion’s mouth, a tremor running through the ground as she lands in front of them. “I’ve installed a loudspeaker in this thing!”

“Already?!”

* * *

 

 

“Had any luck finding the red lion?” Pidge asks as soon as they get back.

“Well, not really,” Coran says, an uncertain look on his face. “We’re still experiencing difficulties locating it. How about you take a seat and wait?”

Pidge huffs and hops up to sit on the controls, beating a pattern in the side with their heels. Katie and Shiro take up positions on either side, Shiro crossing his arms and staring firmly into the distance while Katie folds her arms behind her back and watches Coran and Allura’s work curiously.

After nearly thirty minutes pass, Lance and Hunk finally stumble into the room looking like they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming through hell. Sweat coats their foreheads, mixed with dust in the case of Hunk, and Katie thinks she can see a little soot around his hands.

“You’re looking good,” Pidge quips.

“Shove off, Pidge,” Lance growls. He smooths down his hair with his hands, fixing the elder green paladin with a glare. “Me and Hunk just got sent through hell, how much trouble did  _ you _ have?”

“Oh, it was real tough for us too,” Katie says, a crooked grin on her face. “We had this whole heart-to-heart in the face of danger, Pidge told me their secret.”

“That doesn’t count,” Hunk mutters. “You already know their secret.”

“So, now that you’re all gathered,” Coran cuts in,  a bright grin on his face, “I have an announcement to make regarding the red lion!”

Everyone perks up, and Pidge drops to the ground. “About time,” they mutter.

“What is it?” Shiro asks

“There’s a mix of good and bad news,” Coran begins. “The first good news is that we’ve picked up the red lion’s signal. The bad news is, we’re experiencing the same problems we had with the green lion.”

Pidge’s eyes widen. “Wait, it’s picking up multiple red lions? Where are they?!”

“I’m getting to that, don’t worry.” Coran pauses to straighten his moustache. “So, the next good news is that they’re in more or less the same place, so we won’t need to split our forces searching. Bad news, they’re both on board that Galra ship in orbit around Arus. But finally, good news, we’re Arus!”

There were a variety of exclamations from everyone else, but Pidge just stands in shocked silence as the implications sink in. “But that means— Keith—”

Keith blinks and looks up. “Yeah?”

Pidge shakes their head pushing past everyone to get to the door. “No, not you, I just— I have to—”

“Pidge, wait!” Katie runs after them, vaulting over the control panel and darting across the room in a second, managing to grab Pidge’s arm in the hall just outside.

“Let me go!” Pidge snaps, attempting to twist their arm out of Katie’s grip.

“Calm down,” Katie growls, a fiery look on her eyes, and Pidge pauses. “Okay, so there’s two red lions, which almost certainly means Keith came back in time too. What are you going to do about that?”

“What do you  _ think _ ? _”_ Pidge wrests their arm from Katie’s hand. “I’m going to go find him!”

“By yourself?”

Pidge is silent, matching the intensity of Katie’s glare. Katie sighs. “Look, we were already going to go there to find the other red lion. This doesn’t change much. Why are you getting so upset about this?”

“You know why! We think the same way, when do you get like this?!”

“That’s only for family!”

_ “ He’s family now too! ” _

“What’s this about family?” Hunk asks, and the two brunettes turn with a gasp. “And why’d you two run off like that?”

“Uh...” Pidge and Katie glance nervously at each other, and then back at Hunk. “It’s nothing,” they say as one.

Hunk gives the two of them an unnerved look. “Man, the princess was right, that is really creepy.”

“Sorry,” they both say, and glare at each other a moment later.

Katie clears her throat.  _ “Sorry,” _ she repeats carefully, and gives a smug smile when Pidge looks away and crosses their arms. “Now that that’s out of the way, what’s up? Why’d you come after us?”

“Well, you kinda just ran off in the middle of an important discussion,” Hunk says, wringing his hands nervously. “So if you’re done with… whatever that was, we should maybe get back there?”

“Right, yes, we should do that,” Katie says quickly, tugging on Pidge’s arm. They give her an annoyed look, which she counters with a dry stare.

After a short staring contest Pidge relents and lets Katie drag them back after Hunk. The rest of the group is waiting for them, giving them curious looks which Pidge resolutely ignores.

“So,” they say, brushing off their sleeve as Katie takes up position next to them, “what’s the plan?”

* * *

 

 

Katie is perhaps a little too chipper as she pilots the green lion around through the Galra’s blind spots to find a secure place to break in.

“Is this really the best time to be humming the Ducktales theme?” Keith asks, leaning against one of the armrests. “We’re practically going into a warzone.”

“I’m more surprised you can recognize it,” Pidge quips, arms wrapped around the back of Katie’s seat. They’re wearing a spare space suit from the castle of lions, not wanting to flaunt their own set of paladin armor and reveal their true identity. “Katie couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

“You’re one to talk,” Katie snipes back, finally breaking from the off-tune humming to swat at Pidge’s face. “If I’m bad, you’re  _ terrible. _ ”

“Nuh-uh, I’m not  _ that _ bad,” Pidge says, dodging back.

“Knock it off, you two,” Shiro says, fixing both of them with a glare. “This is a serious mission, it’s not the time for getting into petty squabbles.”

“Sorry,” Pidge and Katie say as one, Katie focusing back on bringing the lion in for a landing. She lands carefully on the surface, opening the mouth to let everyone out and carefully cutting out a circle for them to fit through.

“Pidge, Keith, you go find the red lion,” Shiro orders, motioning the two of them off to one side of the hallway. “Katie and I will look for prisoners like Pidge suggested— you’re sure there are prisoners?”

Pidge nods. “Absolutely. I’ve visited this ship before, and while I can’t give a map or anything, Katie, you can still hack the drones, yes?”

Katie snaps a sharp salute. “In my sleep,” she says, grinning.

Shiro nods. “I’ll trust you to do so, then,” he says. “Alright. Let’s move!”

 

* * *

Space is, for the most part, empty— desolate— lacking. But she has an idea of where to look.

She’s lucky, then, that her intuition was correct. She hitches a ride with some friendly travellers willing to take her to the nearest space port, in exchange for a little tune-up of one of their computers.

_ “What kind of space faring civilization can’t put together a half-decent CPU?” _

_ “Beats me, we scavenged it. So, who did you say you were looking for?” _

**Author's Note:**

> homestuck? in MY voltron?
> 
> (i'm so sorry i couldn't resist)


End file.
